To Be Titled
by Duke Vertigo
Summary: It can be considered a curse to be alone in the world. In some cases, a curse to others


"Drunk, she had to be drunk," Rinoa muttered to herself over and over again. She rubbed her neck as she walked to her home in Timber. The rubbing didn't take the pain away, but it made her feel as if she was trying something to help it. She saw her reflection in a store window that was close to a streetlight. Even in the dim light the bruises could be seen forming. 'What had set her off?' she questioned to herself in her mind. 'She never had done this to anybody as far as I know, even though I've only known her for almost 2 years now.  
  
She had caught the late train back to Timber, so she was curious to know if Squall had gone to sleep yet. Even though she had proved herself to no end that she could protect herself, Squall was highly over-protective. It had only gotten worse when he proposed to her 2 months previous. Rinoa prayed Squall to be asleep. She didn't want to worry him, especially since she was attacked by one of his closest friends unprovoked.  
  
Rinoa was partially thankful that there were no witnesses, not wanting to ruin the reputation her assailant had. After all, she probably was drunk. They did meet in a bar in Balamb. Rinoa turned from the glass window and continued heading towards the cozy little house Squall had bought. Rinoa was no stranger to a choking. It might have been the only way she survived due to her knowledge. Although she never admitted it, for fear that it would get worse, General Caraway had always taken time out of his day to beat his only daughter. Rinoa would just convince herself that the man's actions were excusable, losing his wife and later being forced into retirement.  
  
Rinoa shut her eyes tight, thinking of the painful memories of her father's bare hands over her throat, squeezing the life out of her. Even though she knew how to survive a choking attack, Rinoa had never experienced a choking by a chain whip. The two were walking along the streets of Balamb, Quistis slowed to admire a dress in a small shop window, so Rinoa moved a few paces ahead. Then the alley came near, the whip over the head and tightening across the throat, and Rinoa had fallen and been dragged into the dark alley.  
  
Rinoa hadn't known who was doing it. She thought it first to be a rapist. She managed to struggle to her feet, the chain links digging into her neck. Rinoa remembered during the event that she had actually prayed for the safety of Quistis. Rinoa, who was always highly flexible, threw a kick that had managed to strike over her shoulder, and broke her assailants nose on contact, allowing the release. Her assailant rose to strike again, and Rinoa instinctively reached for any kind of weapon she could find. What she found was a glass bottle, which she shattered over her assailants head, dropping the attacker to the ground.  
  
The sharp glass edges of the bottle neck was then poised in the air as Rinoa moved to finish off the attacker, to find in her way an unconscious Quistis. Without thinking, Rinoa dropped the broken bottle and ran.  
  
Rinoa was hurt, and not only physically. She didn't have a whole lot of friends that she kept in close contact with, and Quistis was the most likely of whom she'd name her maid of honor at the wedding. How could she ask her now? She had no friends growing up, always put in highly expensive and highly disciplined schools as a young girl, she couldn't make any childhood friends growing up since she could never leave the mansion. Her best childhood friend was a cook who had died 3 years ago of old age.  
  
Rinoa, in fact, was very limited on bride's maids as it was. Selphie, who had been full time pilot of the Ragnorak, died when the ship was shot down by Galbadian radicals who are against any form of mercenaries, who believe that they are the cause of all wars. There was Edea, who casually exchanges letters with Squall a couple of times a month.  
  
For now, however, Rinoa didn't want to think about the wedding anymore. She wanted to go home and sleep, maybe just be held in Squall's arms for the night. She knew the inevitable consequences of Squall seeing the bruises on her neck by morning, but for now she wanted to be in a warm bed, enjoying a good nights rest.  
  
She approached the door to the house, and pulled out her keys, fumbling through them. She couldn't spot her house key, so she moved out away from the house to get help from a streetlight in locating it. She was surprised to find it wasn't there. She hadn't used it in a week, so she figured Squall might've lost his so he took hers to make a copy.  
  
She moved back to the door and looked at the mailbox on the wall. She lifted it a little off of the wall, and found the spare key magnetically stuck onto the back of the metal box. He removed it, unlocked the door, and replaced it. Making sure to be quiet, she moved into the house.  
  
She found that Squall, in fact, wasn't asleep at all. He was apparently wide-awake, and obviously waiting for her on a soft sofa with a stern look on his face. "What's the matter?" She asked him upon seeing the look on his face.  
  
"I got a phone call not long ago. Quistis is in the hospital." Squall's accusing stare seemed to melt into Rinoa's soul.  
  
"Don't look at me like that," Rinoa blurted out, her eyes swelling with tears.  
  
"Why?" Squall raised his voice slightly. "Why did you attack her?"  
  
"I didn't! She attacked me!"  
  
"How can you expect me to believe that? Quistis has never once engaged in a fight without purpose of self-defense or sparring. She said you suddenly flipped out and attacked her in a dark alley, and the only way she survived was by trying to send you unconscious. I can see the evidence right there on your neck!" Squall's face was turning red with anger. He knew to restrain himself from hurting Rinoa was to leave the room, so he began moving away to the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.  
  
Rinoa couldn't speak. She was balling, fallen to her knees on the hardwood floor. 'What had happened?' She mentally spoke to her mind. 'She had set me up?' Rinoa crawled over to the couch, it still warm from where Squall was sitting, and she curled up into a ball on the couch, her knees against her chest, and she cried till she fell asleep from exhaustion. 


End file.
